College Football: Rockford University receiver setting standards

And while he is not accomplishing his No. 1 goal on the 0-6 Rockford University football team this season, the record-setting receiver is certainly doing everything in his power.

Russell and the Regents travel to Maranatha on Saturday for perhaps their last and best shot at a win this season, and he heads in as the new all-time Rockford record-holder for the most receiving yards in a season at 808. That total has him No. 4 in the nation in Div. III.

But being great on a winless team was not what Russell was aiming for.

“I’d rather win games than rack up big numbers, any day,” he said. “It helps to ease the pain a little bit, but it’s really tough.

“Last year, this year, it’s been hard, but we don’t stop. I’m going to keep putting up big numbers and try and help get us a win.”

Last year, as Rockford snapped a two-year winless skid by grabbing a pair of victories, the Laney Junior College (Oakland, Calif.) transfer was quiet. In 10 games Russell caught 13 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns, and he carried the ball twice for 44 yards. He hauled in an 82-yard touchdown pass in Week 2 at Loras, briefly showing off his breakaway skills, but for the most part he was a small piece to the big puzzle.

This year, he’s turned into the fuel that powers the entire offense.

“We go into every week thinking we’ve just got to find ways to get Delroy the ball,” Rockford’s second-year head coach Vic Wallace said. “We’ve got other guys we want to get involved, too, but Delroy has to ... has to ... get his. He’s set some records here so far, and there’ll be more. We’ll use him as much as we can the rest of the way out.”

This year Russell, who attended Albany (Calif.) High School, is averaging a school record 23.8 yards per catch and 134.7 receiving yards per game (which is also No. 4 in the nation).

On Oct. 5, Russell and the Regents fell behind to Corcordia-Chicago early, forcing Wallace’s hand, and bringing Russell’s game to the forefront. Quarterback Aabed Nekrawesh had a career-high 435 yards passing that day, and Russell had a school-record 247 receiving yards, coming on just six catches.

Russell’s school record-setting 93-yard touchdown catch kicked off the game, and his 46-yard TD reception late in the first half tied the game at 14-all. But Concordia rattled off 24 unanswered points to start the second half, and Rockford’s losing skid continued.

Then, Russell accounted for 93 yards on just four catches during a 30-13 loss to Benedictine last weekend, and he soared into first place on the all-time, single-season, receiving-yards list.

He also turned a short pass into a 70-yard touchdown on Sept. 14 in Rockford’s closest loss of the season, a 44-33 home-opening defeat to Loras, and the criminal justice and business major who expects to graduate this summer, has been the team’s go-to guy on short yardage plays as well as the big-threat weapon.

Still, nothing he’s done has gotten the Regents on the winning track. That’s the part that stands out the most to him.

“We’re hungry; we’re all so hungry for a win right now it’s not even funny,” said Russell, who also averages just over 32 yards as the Regents’ punter. “For guys like me, we’re figuring we probably only have four or so games left in our careers. I don’t want to go out this way.

“We take every game the same nowadays. When you’re 0-and-whatever, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you just know you have to do everything you can to get that win.

“We just keep trying our best, and believing that it’ll come.”

Jay Taft: 815-987-1384; jtaft@rrstar.com; @jaytaft

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